Wisconsin native, conservative critic of everything.
"Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God." ---G K Chesterton
"The only objective of Liberty is Life" --G K Chesterton
"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions" --G K Chesterton
"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Thinking of Traveling to Europe? Maybe You Won't

According to Hildebeeste's State Department, "some" US citizens who want a passport will answer a long list of questions.

Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any 'religious ceremony' around the time of birth; and a variety of other information," reports Consumer Traveler, which adds that only "some" citizens will have to fill out the questionnaire.

Takes me out, because there are two addresses at which I've lived since my birth which, frankly, I do not KNOW--both before I was 5 years old. And three of my 'former supervisors' are dead...

Many decades ago when I first applied to enter the US, I had to answer a lot of those questions – also provide a police report from every place I had lived for more than six months, to prove I wasn’t a hardened criminal (how do the Mafiosi manage that…?).

As I had lived at six locations in three countries up to that time, this took awhile. Unsurprisingly - to me anyway - Italy was the worst. Just renewing my annual student visa when I was there was half a day’s work. The Carabiniere punched out the information on what looked like a World War II vintage Olivetti with two fingers (touch-typing it was not!). And if his break time happened in the middle of it, he would just up and leave - while you waited…and waited… Of course that was awhile ago – but somehow I suspect things there have not changed much.